- Date
- October 5, 1989, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- North Andover, MA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N671RSSmeesters RV-4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 22, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891005038889A
- Case key
- 36502
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, and his failure to maintain aircraft control during the resultant forced landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Shortly after the homebuilt airplane departed, the pilot told the air traffic controller that the engine had quit and he was returning to the airport to land. A ground witness observed the airplane as it approached the runway. He stated the airplane rolled to the left, pitched nose down and descended into the terrain near the approach end of the runway. An investigation revealed that the pilot did not remove a foam plug from the carburetor inlet duct before flight. Subsequently, this resulted in a restriction of airflow to the carburetor and loss of engine power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N671RS
- Reported as
- Smeesters RV-4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 671
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert F. Smeesters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 14, 1989 · 11 hours before
- Airport
- LWM · Lawrence
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 64
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LWM
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.